Just before 9 p.m. ET on February 3, a 150-car, 9,000 foot long, Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, a quarter mile west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line. Twenty of the affected cars contained...more
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigates, reports on and determines the probable causes of transportation accidents in all modes of transportation, from planes, trains and automobiles, to pipelines, ships...more
On October 1, 2019, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued three new rules to promote pipeline safety. The first, the MAOP Reconfirmation Rule, is the result of Congressional mandates,...more
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on June 29, 2017, published a final rule covering 49 C.F.R. 831 subparts A-D and an interim final rule for 49 C.F.R. 831 subpart E, both of which are effective July 31, 2017...more
On May 1, 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation, acting through the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, issued a much-anticipated final rule on the enhanced tank car standards and operational...more
In response to rail accidents over the past several years involving crude oil and ethanol, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) has been working with industry stakeholders and the National Transportation Safety Board...more
By a vote of 29-1, on June 5, 2014, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed legislation (S. 2438) funding fiscal year (FY) 2015 activities for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). DOT’s programs for crude oil and...more
Recent accidents involving rail cars transporting crude oil from the Bakken shale region have resulted in the heightened interest of rail industry regulators and other federal agencies, including the Pipeline and Hazardous...more